Prof. Dr. -Ing Natalie Heger

Urban Design and Open Space

The Urban Design and Open Space department focuses on developing quality living environments and the high-quality further development of existing places amid social change. At its core are the precise understanding of spatial relationships as a foundation for design and transformation, as well as the development of forward-looking perspectives for buildings, open spaces, and neighborhoods. Design is understood as an analytical, research-based, and experimental process that brings together different perspectives, inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration, and real-world practical references, translating them into spatial strategies and designs.

Urban design and open space development are understood here as an integrated design task between building, city, and landscape. Questions of housing, everyday life, living together, open space, mobility, and climate adaptation are considered in their spatial interrelations. A particular focus lies on existing places and neighborhoods: their structures, qualities, and development potential form the starting point for transformation and further development.

Teaching and research are closely linked to concrete contexts and societal issues. Spatial analysis, research-based design, cooperative processes, and experimental formats serve to investigate questions, develop approaches to solutions, and test them spatially. Collaborations with municipalities, cultural institutions, initiatives, and other practice partners connect the university, professional practice, and urban society, opening up spaces for shared learning, discussion, and continued thinking.

Planning, Educational, and Cultural Practice

2022–2022 // Freelance staff member in education and outreach, German Architecture Museum (DAM), Frankfurt am Main

since 2014 // Co-founder of the interdisciplinary working group u Lab – Studio for Urban and Spatial Processes

2004–2007 // Freelance work as an architect in Frankfurt am Main

1999–2003 //  Work in architectural firms in Berlin (J.S.K. Architekten / Huber und Staudt Architekten)

1990–1993 // Freelance work in stage and costume design

Academic Degrees

2012 // Doctorate at the University of Kassel, The Olympic Village Munich – Planning Experiment and Model City of Modernism

1999 // Degree in architecture from the Technical University of Berlin

1997–1998 // Erasmus studies in architecture at ETSAB – Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona

Quality of living environments and everyday spaces

Transformation and building culture in existing contexts

Cooperative planning and design processes

Spatial strategies in times of social change

Research, Teaching, and Transfer Projects (Selection)

2024–2025  // Research project “The Red Tower. Centre of Speculation”. Investigation of the role and effects of real estate speculation on social infrastructure in the large housing estate Schelmengraben in Wiesbaden. In collaboration with Ruth Schlögl, Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. Results published in: Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: The Red Tower. At the Centre of Speculation. ÖZKD – Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Conservation, 79 (3), 2025.

2024–2025 // Teaching research project “making of…”. Investigation of planning processes and planning parameters using exemplary large-scale urban neighborhoods. In collaboration with Ruth Schlögl and Lukas Vejnik, Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, in cooperation with the German Architecture Museum (DAM) for the exhibition Building the City Today? Challenges of New Neighborhoods in Germany.

2023–2024 // Teaching and research project “Living Well in Large Housing Estates”. Supplementary study to the research project Quality of Life in Large Housing Estates for the development of a housing quality index and neighborhood matrix for assessing spatial and social qualities. In collaboration with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Maren Harnack and Ruth Schlögl, Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. Results published in: Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Living Well in Large Housing Estates. Frankfurt am Main, 2024. Awarded the GFB Future Prize 2023.

2022 // Research and outreach project “Wildnis Hauptwache”. Mobile and interactive research station for investigating biodiversity in the city center, as part of the urban real-world lab “Living Room Hauptwache” of the German Architecture Museum (DAM). Collaboration between Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, u Lab – Studio for Urban and Spatial Processes, and Senckenberg Museum. Project as part of the pilot project of the National Urban Development Policy “Post-Corona City Center”. Results published in: Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Wildnis Hauptwache. In: Transforming Cities 3/2023: Urban Ecosystem.

2022 // Outreach project “WohnRegion”. Concept development and implementation of Minecraft workshops and building labs on current planning topics for the German Architecture Museum (DAM) in cooperation with municipalities. Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Friends of DAM e. V. Results published in: Guide to Planning Play. Minecraft as a Tool for Communicating Urban Planning Processes. German Architecture Museum (DAM).

2021–2022 // Research project “Quality of Life in Large Housing Estates”. Study on improving the assessment of housing and living quality in large housing estates. In collaboration with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Maren Harnack and Ruth Schlögl, Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, as a cooperative project with GWH Wohnungsgesellschaft. Results published in: Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Quality of Life in Large Housing Estates. Study on Improving the Assessment of Housing and Living Quality in Large Housing Estates. Frankfurt am Main, 2022.

2021–2022 // Teaching and research project “WASTELAND”. Interdisciplinary project in the series “Co-Laborate. Social Architectures” on circular practices, co-creation, and collaborative urban development. In collaboration with Ruth Schlögl, Post-War Modernism Research Lab, and Prof. Dr. Raul Gschrey, Department of Social Work and Health, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. Awarded the Hans Sauer Award in the Idea category.

2021 // Research project “Color Cultures in Post-War Modernist Estates”. Academic-artistic investigation of the color schemes of various housing estates in the Rhine-Main region.

2021 // Outreach project “Urban Researchers”. Participatory cultural and neighborhood project for the German Architecture Museum (DAM) in cooperation with TheaterGrueneSosse Frankfurt. Management of two subprojects in collaboration with Christiane Alfers. Funded by the Kulturkoffer funding program of the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts.

2020 //  Exhibition “Nothing to See.” Large post-war modernist housing estates in photographs by Ben Kuhlmann and Malte Sänger. Exhibition by the Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, at Deutscher Werkbund Hessen, Frankfurt am Main.

2020 // Teaching research and transfer project “Performing Commons”. Critical cartography, experimental design, and podcast for public space in the arts and cultural quarter of Potsdam. Cooperation between the Federal Foundation for Baukultur, TU Berlin, the University of Kassel, and u Lab – Studio for Urban and Spatial Processes. Invited to the student forum of the Konvent der Baukultur 2021.

2020 // Outreach project “Green Climate, Grey House – Climate Protection through Building Greening”. Development of an outreach program for the exhibition “EINFACH GRÜN” at the German Architecture Museum (DAM). In collaboration with Paola Wechs.

2019 // Study “Concepción Living at (in) the Edge. The Andalien River Fluvial Restoration and Urban Design”. Investigation of a model case for climate-resilient river landscapes במסגרת an international competition. In collaboration with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Paola Alfaro d’Alençon.

2019 // Practice project “Haus Lieber”. Design and preliminary planning of a private single-family timber house in Küchen/Hesse. In cooperation with budenundburgen, Kassel.

2018–2019 // Research project “Housing Estates in the Rhine-Main Region”. Research on the history and present of the Chinamauer housing estate in Rodgau and the Sonnenring estate in Frankfurt am Main for the publication Living in Post-War Modernism. Housing Estates in the Rhine-Main Region. Research Lab for Baukultur and Post-War Modernist Housing, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. Results published in: Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Brunner, M. (eds.): Living in Post-War Modernism. Housing Estates in the Rhine-Main Region. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin, 2020.

2017 // Competition entry “From Moore-Rubel-Yudell to Green City Makers”. Urban design and reactivation of neighborhoods in suburban Berlin using Karow as an example, within the competition “City in Transition – City of Ideas: Alternative Housing in the Neighborhood”. In collaboration with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Paola Alfaro d’Alençon. Awarded 1st prize.

2016 // Research project Concept for the “Activation of Inner Development Potential in Growing Municipalities – Survey and Testing of Components of Active Management” as support for the housing development coordination office in implementing the model project “Inner Development Potential Berlin” as part of an ExWoSt research project. In collaboration with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Paola Alfaro d’Alençon and die raumplaner – Office for Urban and Regional Development, Berlin.

2005–2009 // Practice project “ernst may haus”. Project coordination of the preservation-oriented renovation of the model house of the Neues Frankfurt in Römerstadt. Funded, among others, by the State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse, the Frankfurt Monument Office, the cultural budget of the City of Frankfurt am Main, and the German Foundation for Monument Protection.

Monographs, Edited Volumes, and Research Reports

2024 Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Living Well in Large Housing Estates. Report of the Supplementary Study to the Research Project Quality of Life in Large Housing Estates. Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt am Main.

2022 Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Quality of Life in Large Housing Estates. Study on Improving the Assessment of Housing and Living Quality in Large Housing Estates. Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt am Main.

2021 Brunner, M.; Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Schmitz, H.-J. (eds.): Transformative Participation. Strategies for Post-War Modernist Housing. Jovis Verlag, Berlin.

2020 Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Brunner, M. (eds.): Adaptive Re-Use. Strategies for Post-War Modernist Housing. Jovis Verlag, Berlin.

2020 Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Brunner, M. (eds.): Living in Post-War Modernism. Housing Estates in the Rhine-Main Region. DKV-Edition, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin.

2020 Research Lab for Baukultur and Post-War Modernist Housing (eds.): Nothing to See. Large Housing Estates in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Region. Exhibition catalog, Frankfurt am Main.

2014 Heger, N.: The Olympic Village Munich. Planning Experiment and Model City of Modernism. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin.

Articles in Academic Journals

2025 Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: The Red Tower. Centre of Speculation. In: ÖZKD – Austrian Journal for Art and Monument Conservation, 79 (3), pp. 63–68.

2023 Harnack, M.; Heger, N.: Hidden Champions. In: Pottgiesser, U.; Quist, W. (eds.): Docomomo Journal, no. 68, Middle Class Mass Housing, 2023/1 (peer-reviewed).

2023 Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Wildnis Hauptwache. In: Transforming Cities, 3/2023: Urban Ecosystem.

2023 Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Quality of Life in Large Housing Estates. More Than Four Walls and a Roof Over One’s Head. In: Transforming Cities, 2/2023: Collaborative City Project.

2022 Harnack, M.; Schlögl, R.; Brunner, M.; Heger, N.: Campaigning for Post-War Modernist Housing Estates in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Area. In: Architektúra & Urbanizmus, Vol. 56, Nr. 1.

2022 Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Designing Quality of Life, Developing Neighborhoods. In: DW, 12/2022: City and Neighborhood.

2022 Heger, N.; Schlögl, R.: Housing and Living Quality in Large Housing Estates – Potential for Good Neighborhood Development. In: QUARTIER, 6/2022.

2021 Heger, N.: Munich’s Greenest Village. In: maybrief, issue 55.

Contributions to Edited Volumes

2022 Alfaro d’Alençon, P.; Heger, N.; Podlaha, N.: From Experts to Actors. In: Engler, H.; Herold, S.; Wilks, S. (eds.): Collective and Collaborative. Positions on Collaborative Work in Architecture and Planning from the 20th Century to the Present. University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg.

2020 Heger, N.: The Hanging Gardens of Munich. In: Steixner, G.; Welzig, M. (eds.): Luxury for All. Milestones in European Terrace Housing. Birkhäuser Verlag, Berlin.

2020 Heger, N.: That’s how it works! Replacing the Student Housing Complex in the Olympic Village, Munich. In: Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Brunner, M. (eds.): Adaptive Re-Use. Strategies for Post-War Modernist Housing. Jovis Verlag, Berlin.

2020 Heger, N.: Chinamauer – Crossover. In: Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Brunner, M. (eds.): Living in Post-War Modernism. Housing Estates in the Rhine-Main Region. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin.

2020 Heger, N.: Sonnenring – Côte d’Azur in Frankfurt. In: Harnack, M.; Heger, N.; Brunner, M. (eds.): Living in Post-War Modernism. Housing Estates in the Rhine-Main Region. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin.

2018 Heger, N.: Design Practices in the 1960s. In: Hildebrand, S.; Mondini, D.; Grignolo, R. (eds.): L’Architettura e i saperi (= Quaderni dell’Accademia di architettura, Mendrisio, Università della Svizzera italiana). Mendrisio Academy Press.

2013 Heger, N.: Planning Experiment Olympic Village Munich. The Genesis of a Concept. In: Hennecke, S.; Keller, R. (eds.): Democratic Green. Olympic Park Munich. Jovis Verlag, Berlin.

2012 Heger, N.: The Solo Planner’s Self-Dialogue Becomes a Colloquium. The Architect in the 1960s in Search of a New Self-Understanding and the Scientific Foundations of Planning. In: Köth, A.; Lippert, H.-G.; Schwarting, A. (eds.): un|planbar. Weltbaumeister und Ingenieur: Der Architekt als „Rivale des Schöpfers“. Thelem Verlag, Dresden.

2026 // Who Stays? Built Neighborhood and Identity in Frankfurt Modernist Housing Estates. Baukultur Dialogue #9, Hamburg (23.04.2026).

2025 // The Red Tower: The Centre of Speculation. International Social Housing Festival, Dublin (05.06.2025).

2025 // Material Matters – Resource Use of Sustainable Teaching. Workshop, U!REKA Annual Conference, Metropolia University, Helsinki (21.05.2025).

2025 // Designing in a State of Exception. Guest lecture, Hochschule München (14.05.2025).

2025 // Climate Neighborhood at Kronberg Station. Public tour of the competition exhibition followed by a discussion, Stadthalle Kronberg (16.04.2025).

2024 // Quality of Life – Key to Neighborhood Development. Webinar, German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu), Berlin (06.12.2024).

2024 // The Red Tower: The Centre of Speculation. 20th-Century Housing Heritage in Europe: Conserving, Participating and Adapting, TU Wien – Heritage Conservation and Building in Existing Contexts (29.09.2024).

2024 // The Power of Co-Creation. WASTELAND – A Cross-Curricular Cooperation between Students from Architecture and Social Work. Poster and lecture, U!REKA Connects Conference, Technical University of Ostrava (06.06.2024).

2023 // Designing Quality of Life. Developing Neighborhoods. Online lecture, Kompetenzzentrum Großsiedlungen (05.12.2023).

2023 // The Red Tower. Speculations at the Center (Schelmengraben Wiesbaden). German Congress of Geography, Frankfurt am Main (22.09.2023).

2023 // Hide and Seek. Different Teaching Formats. New Perspectives. Lecture, U!REKA SHIFT – Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance Conference, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (23.05.2023).

2023 // Wildnis Hauptwache. Pecha Kucha lecture, SOUP Festival Frankfurt (11.05.2023).

2023 // Living Well in Large Housing Estates. GFB Symposium New Housing for the Metropolitan Region, Frankfurt am Main (04.05.2023).

2023 // Hello Kronberg! Housing on Building Plot V. Transformation of an Inner-City Brownfield Site at Kronberg Station. Lecture as part of the event What Kind of Housing Will We Be Able to Afford in the Future? Aktives Kronberg (03.05.2023).

2023 // Hidden Champions. Large Housing Estates in the Rhine-Main Region. Annual conference of Docomomo Germany, Frankfurt am Main (27.–30.04.2023).

2023 // Affordable Housing in Large Housing Areas: Corner Stone Life Quality. Pecha Kucha Night, German Architecture Museum (DAM): How Can Global Cities Reach Housing Affordability? (27.04.2023).

2022 // WASTELAND. Circular Communities: Practices and Spaces of Circularity. Circular Society Forum, Hans Sauer Foundation (22.09.2022).

2022 // Planning in a State of Exception – How the Olympic Village Munich Came into Being. Festival weeks for the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games (19.05.2022 and 29.06.2022).

2021 // From Experts to Actors. Conference The Great Power of the Collective. Collaborative Work in Architecture from the 20th Century to the Present, Competence Center for Heritage Studies and Heritage Technologies, University of Bamberg (17.09.2021).

2021 // WASTELAND. City Vista Frankfurt – Interdisciplinary event series on the topic of the city (04.09.2021).

2020 // The Planning of the Olympic Village in Munich. Institute of Design and Building Composition, TU Braunschweig (25.06.2020).

2019 // That’s How It Works! Replacement Building for the Student Housing Complex in the Olympic Village Munich. Conference Adaptive Re-Use. Strategies for Post-War Modernist Housing, Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (12.10.2019).

2019 // Aktion Olympia. The Competition for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Symposium Who Determines Architecture? Networks, Competitions, and Public Discourse, CCSA – Center for Critical Studies in Architecture, TU Darmstadt / Goethe University Frankfurt / German Architecture Museum (17.01.2019).

2018 // Model City of Modernism: Olympic Village Munich. Department of Architectural Design and Building Theory, University of Kassel (06.12.2018).

2017 // “That has to work; we want to prove that something like this is possible.” Planning and Housing Experiment Olympic Village Munich. Guest lecture for the exhibition opening Heinle Best Of – Between High Mountains and the Mediterranean, State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (08.09.2017).

2017 // From Moore-Rubel-Yudell to Green City Makers. Round Table Talk Smart City, Smart Living: Alternative Housing in the Neighborhood, Plattform Nachwuchsarchitekten, Berlin (19.09.2017).

2016 // Designing Between Intuition and Measurability. Symposium Designing and Researching in Architecture and Landscape, Leibniz University Hannover (09.04.2016).

2016 // “We want to prove that something like this is possible.” Housing Experiment Olympic Village Munich. Guest lecture, TU Dortmund (18.01.2016).

2015 // documenta effects – past and future. Lecture with city tour as part of the event 60 Years of documenta, Kassel (09/2015).

2014 // Objectification? On the Rationalization of the Planning of the Olympic Village Munich 1968. Conference The Disappearance of Architects. Architectural Practice within Precarious Design Conditions, University of Innsbruck (04.07.2014).

2014 // The Olympic Village Munich. Book presentation, Architekturgalerie München (01.04.2014).

2014 // The Olympic Village Munich. Book presentation, Salon Rütter, Berlin (21.02.2014).

2013 // The Rationalization of Architectural Design. Planning Experiment Olympic Village Munich 1968. Second Swiss Congress for Art History, University of Lausanne (23.08.2013).

2011 // Between Intuition and Measurability – Planning Experiment Olympic Village Munich 1968. Conference Scientific Designing – From Research-Based Design to Design Research in Architecture, eikones NFS Bildkritik, University of Basel (03.11.2011).

2010 // The Architect as Systems Planner. The Planning Process of the Olympic Village in Munich 1968–1972. Conference un|planbar. Weltbaumeister und Ingenieur: Der Architekt als „Rivale des Schöpfers“, University of Dresden (18.06.2010).

2010 // The Genesis of a Concept. How Munich Capitalised on the 1972 “Happy Games” as a Motive and Motor for Urban Development and Architectural Innovation. 11th Cambridge Heritage Seminar Heritage and the Olympics, University of Cambridge (24.04.2010).

Organization of Academic Conferences

2020 // Co-organization of the academic symposium Transformative Participation. Strategies for Post-War Modernist Housing. Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (06.11.2020).

2019 //  Co-organization of the academic conference Adaptive Re-Use. Strategies for Post-War Modernist Housing. Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (12. – 13.10.2019).

Since 2019 // Frankfurt Research Institute (FFin)

Since 2018 //  Post-War Modernism Research Lab, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences

Since 2012 // Network for Architectural Research e. V.

Since 2006 // Docomomo Germany

Since 2004 // Chamber of Architects and Urban Planners of Hesse

2003–2004 // Berlin Chamber of Architects

Since 2024 // Mentor in the M:ASL mentoring network, University of Kassel

Since 2005 // ernst-may-gesellschaft e. V. (Board member 2006–2009)

2013–2017 // German Society for Higher Education Didactics

2024 // Recognition in the Hessian University Prize for Excellence in Teaching for the project MATERIALSTATT.

2022 // GFB Future Prize for the research project Living Well in Large Housing Estates.

2022 // Winning project of the DAM real-world lab “Living Room Hauptwache” with the project Wildnis Hauptwache.

2021 // Hans Sauer Award, Idea category, for the project WASTELAND Nordweststadt.

2012 // Publication funding for the monograph The Olympic Village Munich. Planning Experiment and Model City of Modernism by the Nemetschek Foundation.

2009 // Doctoral funding through the Structural Equal Opportunities special fund of the University of Kassel.